Halloween Festivities 2011

We didn't make a big deal about Halloween this year.  To be honest, I am completely OVER this "holiday".  But I don't want to deprive my kids of the fun, so we got costumes (one was a free hand-me-down and the other we bought) and went trick-or-treating for 20 minutes.  And they still filled their buckets halfway!  Every year, I let them choose the # of candies as their age and the rest is given away (and eaten by Peter and I).  It just works for our family since we don't let them eat that stuff too often.

This past Friday night, while I was on a plane to CA, the kids went to a costume ball at their school.  There were friends and food and games and fun.  Peter said they had a good time, but took only a few photos.  I hate missing things like this, because I would have made a bigger deal about that and taken some photos of the decor or of them with their friends and classmates, but........ Oh well.

All in all, 2011 was a forgettable year for Halloween.  And I am a-ok with that!  Hope you all had a fun and fantastic time!

Ready for the Ball!

Harry Potter

Little Cheerleader

Fun at the Ball

Ready to Trick-or-treat!

Fall Visit with Grandma and Grandpa B

My parents came into town over the weekend for a visit.  A good time is always had.  But, since it was such a short visit (less than 2 days), we couldn't plan to do much.  Peter works weekends, so we basically just had Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning to do something all together.  And I was serving at church on Sunday, so really, it was just Saturday afternoon and evening.  On Saturday, we carved pumpkins and enjoyed the outside weather (it was a GORGEOUS Fall weekend here!).  That night, I made some Albondigas and my sister Jill and her best friend Sara (who was visiting from Chicago this weekend) came over and joined us.  After dinner, we all played Apples to Apples, which was great fun.  On Sunday, Peter and my parents and the kids headed to Multnomah Falls for some site seeing and to enjoy the outside weather.  I was sad to have missed it, but glad they had fun.  And then, in the afternoon, we went over to my sister's house to spend some time with her and her boyfriend.  We chatted and played games and she cooked a fantastic pasta dinner.  Brownies and ice cream for dessert was provided by yours truly.

It was such a wonderful visit, albeit short.  It's always sad to see our visitors go, but look forward to seeing them again in January!

Multnomah Falls

With my parents

Aaron and Jill with the kiddos

Missing our big sister!

Pumpkin Carving!

Alayna has been doing this creepy smile lately.  Appropriate for this activity though.

Creeeeeeepy

Scooping out the seeds

Cutting the top off.

Haha!  Having a little taste.  The face is classic.

 Grandpa B helps out

 Daddy too.

Drawing the face (he wanted NO help).

So proud....

Time to cut out the face.

Goofs.....

Grandpa was a great helper!

Had to include this photo I took with my phone on the way home from church this morning.  It was a BEAUTIFUL Fall day in Portland!  I love it here SOOOOOOOOOO much!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

It was a beautiful Autumn afternoon in Portland today!  65º and partly sunny, with the perfect crispness in the air.  We decided it would be a good day to go to the Pumpkin Patch.  We headed out to Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island for the afternoon.  It was such a fun day.  Aunt Jill joined us and took some great photos.  We took way too many to post here, but I am posting a few of my favorites.  A few she took and a few I took.  It was a spectacular day!  Hay ride, corn maze, eating some roasted corn and marion berry pie, looking for that perfect pumpkin (we ended up with two), climbing trees, chasing chickens, visiting with the other animals on the farm, and just enjoying the air.  It was wonderful!  Thank you Portland for giving us Fall.....we've missed it!

1st Grade Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, Alayna had a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with the 1st (and 2nd) graders at her school.  She was very excited to go and excited that Daddy would be coming along (Mommy, unfortunately, is in school on Thursdays from 8am-2pm).  They went to a small farm in Hillsboro.  Lots of animals and fun stuff for the kids to do.  Both Peter and Alayna came home with small pumpkins.   Our family will be doing our own trip to a different patch tomorrow and are really looking forward to it.  We love Autumn!

DCB Farewell Show

Over the past two years, our children have developed a love for the David Crowder Band. Peter and I love them and always play their music in the house and in the car. So, when news arose that they were going to be doing their LAST tour as band, we knew we had to take the kids. However, Alayna expressed that she did not want to go because it would be "too loud" (she is VERY sensitive to loud noises...still hates the vacuum). She said the same thing when we wanted to take them both to see the Aquabats. So, once again, it was just Jeremiah as we headed to the Crystal Ballroom to see DCB for the last time. What fun we had!  Alayna stayed with some friends of ours for some music and fun of her own.  So, it was a good night for all!

Our camera (only 3.5 years old) is on the fritz.  The battery doesn't hold a charge anymore and it kept shutting off throughout the night.  We arrived at the show late and missed the first band (John McMillan) and the place was PACKED so we couldn't really see.  I ended up going upstairs to the 21 and over area to watch the show.  Much better for my claustrophobia--I got to sit in the first row of seats in the balcony so I had no one obstructing my view.  But, I was way far from the stage.  Still managed to have a great time and Jeremiah and Peter had as much fun as they could on the crowded floor.  The energy in the room was fantastic and it was a spectacular night of worship music!  We are going to miss DCB, but we are grateful that their music will live on in our home.

 My view (not zoomed in)

 Gungor--FANTASTIC!

Chris August -- He was FUNNY and sounded awesome!

 Zoomed in as far as I could....can you see Peter?

 There were several of these chandeliers.  Beautiful!

 DCB!

A guy in the audience was holding up a sign asking if he could play guitar during a song and they invited him up on stage.  Peter thinks it was "staged".....I want to give the benefit of the doubt.  

They played some bluegrass!

My camera has horrible sound and kept shutting off when I tried to take a video, so here is a little collage of everything I got.  (And it was my first time using iMovie, so the editing stinks.  I am learning.  I love my Mac--it makes everything easy for the technologically challenged.)

Kickball Jamboree

For the past 6 weeks, Jeremiah has been participating in an after-school kickball team through the Playworks program.  He has been absolutely loving it.  But, it all came to an end yesterday with a "Kickball Jamboree", which was held at the University of Portland (beautiful campus!) with about 6 schools from the district.  Since this program is really about teaching teamwork, cooperative play, good sportmanship, and other character-buidling attributes, this was not a play to win tournament.  Just some kids getting together with their coaches and playing a fun game.  The rain held off so we were able to enjoy a dry Jamboree!  Jeremiah did great.  Here are a few pics:

The team with Coach Jay

 First base!

 He caught the ball for an out on first.

 Kick!  He got a single.

 Halftime break in the bleachers on Merlo Field

 Dad and daughter

 Here comes another base "hit"

 Pitching